I am thrilled to have the opportunity to try and review Zeezok Publishing LLC ‘s Music Appreciation: Book 1 for the Elementary Grades.
Recipient of this hearty music appreciation curriculum. So far, I love it.
It goes through several composers. For each composer, there is a book to read, music to sample, a simple but effective set of follow-up questions in the workbook.
David has been studying Handel. The book is thorough, and is relatively easy reading for David. I feel it could be easily used as a read-aloud for younger children, and an older child would also enjoy it. The stories that it tells about the musicians were even interesting to me.
This is a curriculum he can do on his own. The student workbook has each week’s lessons listed. David just follows the plan, listens to the relevant tracks on the Audio CD and then completes the workbook pages. The workbook pages relate directly to the reading, so if there is something he does not remember or does not know how to spell, he can check the pages from the book.
The books for each author are very high quality. I was pleasantly surprised. The print is nice and big and clear, and has high quality illustrations. I love that there is a book for each musician covered in the curriculum. Also included in the book are simple musical scores that David can pick out on the piano and play. That is fun for him, who is beginning level on the piano.
Interwoven in the workbook are things about individual instruments. The student is given the opportunity to use the internet or outside book sources to research some things to enhance his experience.
In addition to learning about the life of the composer, the books teach about the country and the specific point in time the composer lived. It also tells about the other musicians of the era, giving context to the lesson. Since Handel was in Germany, the student is taught about the rulers of the time in Germany, and also get to identify major parts of the country on a map. It then tells how some things are the same now, and some things are different.
In the chapter, there are some questions that include lists of adjectives and adverbs and lets the student choose the right one, reinforcing grammar in the midst of the music appreciation.
Finally, it includes things that are elements of music, defining terms like harmony and melody, and teaching a bit about dynamics. Using these definitions, the student can then identify things in the real world using musical terms (for example: is a race car ff or p). For David, this will be a great review and will help fill in the gaps that exist from his music training.
Each featured musician, if you are using the curriculum as designed, should take one month to complete.
One element I should not neglect to mention is that there is an included lapbook CD. You can easily print and make your own lapbook to reinforce the ideas taught in the lessons.
